Christopher Witiw

MD, MS, FRCSC

Investigator

Biography

Christopher Witiw entered the neurosurgery residency program at the University of Toronto after completing his MD at the University of Manitoba in 2012. During his residency he completed a MS degree with a focus on Health Economics at The University of Chicago after receiving an award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His thesis on the value of surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Paper Award from the North American Spine Society in 2016. He has received numerous other awards including the Shafie S. Fazel Outstanding Resident Surgeon and Investigator Award from the University of Toronto Department of Surgery and the Alan R. Hudson Neurosurgery Resident Teaching Award from the University of Toronto Division of Neurosurgery. After obtaining his FRCSC in Neurosurgery in 2018, Chris undertook a subspecialty fellowship in Complex and Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Chris returns to Toronto as a Surgeon Investigator at St. Michael’s Hospital where his clinical work is directed toward treating the full spectrum of spinal disorders. He has a specific interest in minimally invasive approaches to spinal conditions. Chris’ research work is centered on Health Economics and Health Services pertinent to spinal pathology and he is especially interested in ‘big data’ analytics as a means to optimize efficiency and quality of spine surgery.

Spine Research Program 

 

Recent Publications

  1. Dionne, A, Al-Zakri, M, Labelle, H, Joncas, J, Parent, S, Mac-Thiong, JM et al.. Canadian Spine Society: 24th Annual Scientific Conference, Wednesday, February 28 - Saturday, March 2, Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Whistler, B.C., Canada. Can J Surg. 2024;67 (6suppl1):S17-S76. doi: 10.1503/cjs.011424. PubMed PMID:39537311 PubMed Central PMC11573431.
  2. Malhotra, AK, Nathens, AB, Shakil, H, Bondzi-Simpson, A, Ribeiro, T, Essa, A et al.. Association Between Racial Marginalization with Direct Healthcare Expenditure, Time at Home and Rehabilitation Access Following Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Ann Surg. 2024; :. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006584. PubMed PMID:39513268 .
  3. Essa, A, Malhotra, AK, Shakil, H, Badhiwala, J, Nathens, AB, Yuan, EY et al.. Evolution of Real-World Clinical Practice in Time to Surgery Following Thoracolumbar Spinal Cord Injury: An Observational Study of North American Trauma Centers from 2010 to 2020. J Neurotrauma. 2024; :. doi: 10.1089/neu.2024.0125. PubMed PMID:39506651 .
  4. Essa, A, Shakil, H, Malhotra, AK, Badhiwala, J, Yuan, EY, He, Y et al.. Time to Surgery Following Complete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Evolution of Clinical Practice Patterns Over a Decade from 2010 to 2020 Across North American Trauma Centers. J Neurotrauma. 2024; :. doi: 10.1089/neu.2024.0025. PubMed PMID:39501890 .
  5. Hamel, C, Avard, B, Dea, N, Margau, R, Mattar, A, Michaud, A et al.. Canadian Association of Radiologists Spine Imaging Referral Guideline. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2024; :8465371241290762. doi: 10.1177/08465371241290762. PubMed PMID:39437341 .
  6. Shakil, H, Malhotra, AK, Essa, A, Landry, AP, Suppiah, S, Sahgal, A et al.. Chordoma incidence, treatment, and survival in the 21st century: a population-based Ontario cohort study. J Neurosurg. 2024; :1-10. doi: 10.3171/2024.6.JNS24426. PubMed PMID:39423422 .
  7. Malhotra, AK, Jaffe, RH, Shakil, H, Mathieu, F, Nathens, AB, Kulkarni, AV et al.. Unemployment and Personal Income Loss After Traumatic Brain Injury. JAMA Surg. 2024; :. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2024.4285. PubMed PMID:39382862 .
  8. Hu, Z, Patel, M, Ball, RL, Lin, HM, Prevedello, LM, Naseri, M et al.. Assessing the Performance of Models from the 2022 RSNA Cervical Spine Fracture Detection Competition at a Level I Trauma Center. Radiol Artif Intell. 2024; :e230550. doi: 10.1148/ryai.230550. PubMed PMID:39298563 .
  9. Malhotra, AK, Nathens, AB, Shakil, H, Jaffe, RH, Essa, A, Mathieu, F et al.. Days at Home After Traumatic Brain Injury: Moving Beyond Mortality to Evaluate Patient-Centered Outcomes Using Population Health Data. Neurology. 2024;103 (8):e209904. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000209904. PubMed PMID:39284113 .
  10. Shakil, H, Essa, A, Malhotra, AK, Jaffe, RH, Smith, CW, Yuan, EY et al.. Insurance-Related Disparities in Withdrawal of Life Support and Mortality After Spinal Cord Injury. JAMA Surg. 2024;159 (10):1196-1204. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2024.2967. PubMed PMID:39141362 PubMed Central PMC11325240.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

Assistant Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto